Characterization of the interleukin-28b gene rs12979860 c/t polymorphism in Turkish chronic hepatitis c patients and healthy ındividuals

Abstract

Background: Host genetic factors can affect the prog- ress of hepatitis-C virus (HCV) infection. Interleukin- 28B (IL28B) single nucleotide polymorphisms mayplay an important role in the clearance of HCV sponta- neously or with treatment. Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the rateof IL28B genotypes in patients with Chronic Hep- atitis-C (CHC) and healthy control subjects and toexamine the characteristics of patients in each IL28Bsubgroup. Study Design: Case-control study. Methods: IL28B polymorphisms were genotypedby Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Frag- ment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in all sub-jects. Results: The mean age was 52.3±10.9 years (33% fe- male) in the CHC patients and 52.5±11.5 years (39.1%female) in the healthy controls. The percentage of pa- tients with a high baseline viral load (≥400,000 IU/mL)was higher in the CT group (69.8%) compared to the C/C (44.4%) and T/T (50%) groups (p=0.021). Therewas no significant difference in liver fibrosis and livernecroinflammation distribution among the CC, CT andTT genotypes with mild, moderate and severe groups(p=0.058 and p=0.791, respectively). Mean age, gen-der ratio, body mass index, viral load at baseline, rateof HCV genotypes, baseline ALT levels were not sig-nificantly different among the three IL28B subgroups(p>0.05). A significant increase was observed in thefrequencies of IL28B rs12979860 TT genotypes in theCHC patients (20.6%) compared to the healthy controlgroup (8.7%) (p=0.033).Conclusion: In the patients with chronic HCV-genotype1b and 4 infections, the IL28B rs12979860 (C>T) genepolymorphism frequency of the TT genotype and T allelewas higher than in healthy control subjects. This resultindicates that the TT genotype may be more effective inthe progression of HCV infection than other genotypes.